Puella Consulti Madoka Magica
by GreenNinja
Summary: Ms. Saotome has been assaulted, Hitomi is to blame. The puella consulti fight, gathering energy to prove their opinion. A first year student and Madoka get involved in a story that will change their perception of the world.
1. The most objective court of law

If the world changed overnight, it would be impossible to know, wouldn't it? The world as it once was would fade into legend, becoming an impossible goal that people would hope towards. That some would risk their life for. Magic that makes this world better is something that hasn't existed for a long time. Mitakihara has become the center of this world's primary form of entertainment, and of justice. Magic is used to decide the fate of human lives. Then where did the legends come from? From here, they look like nothing more than a wonderful dream.

* * *

><p>My name is Amai Sato. This will be my first year as a middle school student. My family runs a little cake shop in the middle of the city, but what I really love is cheese. I finish my breakfast as I try to roll up my uniform so that nothing's hanging off. My magenta hair always feels really sticky in the mornings.I just know that people are going to wonder which elementary school I should be at. I'm going to show them that I'm not that naive.<p>

I run out of the store and catch the first train across the city. Seeing the sun rise over the glassy landscape of the city is really beautiful. My cell phone starts buzzing in my pocket, waking up the salaryman next to me. It's a text message from Mami. She lives in the same neighborhood as me. We've been best friends for a long time. She's like my older sister, but this is her last year of middle school, so this is the only chance I'll get to be with her.

"Good morning! If you want to know where your classes are, you should probably ask Ms. Saotome for help. She's located on the second floor. Best of luck. Mami."

I feel like I've entered an entirely new world. Looking around the schoolyard, everyone is dressed in the same uniforms as I am. I can't wait to see what the summer ones look like. I run through the doors and into the hallway. Compared to my elementary school, this feels like a maze. I dash up the stairs, grabbing onto the railing as I go. The hallways are busy; I catch some girls reading a magazine out of the corner of my eye. Girls in wonderful fashions are on the cover, presenting themselves in a row for a publicity photo.

I approach Ms. Saotome's office. It looks like there's someone already in there. A girl with green hair and a ladylike air to her. She's holding a mirror to her face while applying lipstick. She sets the mirror down, holding the small tube in her hand. Ms. Saotome, an older woman with short hair and glasses, is talking with her about something. She opens up the back window, and looks down onto the terrace below, where some of the teachers are taking in their morning coffee.

"What did you want to talk about, Shizuki?" asked Ms. Saotome.

"It's about the puella consulti," says Hitomi. "I think one of my friends..."

The air begins to shake. A mark materializes on Ms. Saotome's neck, something circular and pinkish in color, and seems to be causing her great pain. Her vest and the front of her shirt are ripped open. She collapses, and her eyes go blank. She starts muttering something about a lack of a boyfriend and how nobody wants her. Hitomi gasps in shock, causing her handheld mirror to fall to the floor.

The morals committee runs in and looks at the scene. They see Hitomi, standing there with her lipstick, and Ms. Saotome lying down on the floor. Hitomi's hands are shaking. The president, showing her red armband, grabs Hitomi and looks at her sternly. I keep quiet behind the corner.

"Did you do this?" asks the president.

"No, she just-" Hitomi starts. The president confiscates her lipstick as evidence.

I witness the committee walking past me, carrying the unconscious Saotome. Following them is Hitomi, pleading for her case. The more she struggles, the more it looks like she's the guilty party. A girl with pink twintails and red ribbons, another second year student, sees the ensuing chaos, and runs directly into it.

"What happened?" she asks. "Someone sexually assaulted Ms. Saotome?"

She looks down the hallway. My eyes follow hers. A girl with short blue hair is walking away from the scene. Her uniform is unkempt; she looks like a delinquent. She gives a cursory glance at this pink haired girl, then turns around and continues walking, blending into the crowds.

"Sayaka! Wait! I want to talk!" she calls out.

A woman with long, dark black hair, dressed in a lab coat, approaches the girl with the red ribbons. Her sharp eyes kind of creep me out.

"Momozono, what's going on here?" asks the sharp-eyed woman.

"Sorry, Nurse Nayuta. I'll tell you later," says the girl called Momozono.

Nurse Nayuta ignored me. I'm short, so I'm used to it. Her eyes track themselves over toward the magazine. She looks at the page about the puella consulti. The hallway falls deathly silent. I take that as my cue to escape. I would go to homeroom, but on a day like this, I wonder if I'm going to have it at all.

* * *

><p>By the time lunch break comes around, the news has spread all across the school. A voice comes over the intercom, solemnly informing us about what has happened.<p>

"Second year homeroom teacher Kazuko Saotome was sexually assaulted by one of her students, Hitomi Shizuki. Shizuki denies it. The morals committee is looking into possible causes for this crime."

I walk out into the hallway. Should I go to the committee and tell them I was a witness? My first day of school would turn into a downer instantly if I did that. Hitomi is already at the police station, where her trial has been decided. I cast a glance down at my left hand. It's only a matter of time before I receive the call to take place in her trial.

Hitomi was brought into a darkened room, with only a podium to present her case and a row of screens arranged before her. Each screen resembles a card, presenting a fantastic and horrifying creature, with the silhouette of a girl beneath them. There was also one guy. Everything in this room is written in a language unlike anything else on Earth. Hitomi struggles against her handcuffs, but such an emotional response will not work on the judge that sits before Mitakihara's primary form of justice, and of entertainment.

"Welcome, suspect Shizuki," says a cute voice from the darkness, the only thing visible a pair of red eyes, "I am Judge Incubator, the overseer of the puella consulti."

"Puella consulti?" asked Hitomi.

"You humans are far too emotional in your law. The Incubators took it upon themselves to come to this planet and establish the law for you. That is why we contract people to become puella consulti. In trials, each of them represents an opinion. The winner is the one whose witch, a manifestation of their soul, gets the most energy in their Soul Gem by gathering it from the defeated Grief Seeds of the others," says Judge Incubator.

"That doesn't sound right," says Hitomi.

"They fight within the barrier, or the bar for short. The defense, the prosecution, lawyers public and private, and people related to the case all do battle. The puella consulti system has been deemed the most objective court of law in the universe," says the Incubator.

* * *

><p>What was happening inside the bar was visible to everyone. It was a dreamlike landscape that constantly changed depending on who was ahead. As it is now, it resembles a parking lot, albeit one made out of construction paper and scotch tape. The puella consulti had begun their fight.<p>

In the background, a girl dressed in an artists' smock twirls around a large paintbrush, throwing out paint and thinner in alternate spurts towards a girl in a a leather suit. The leather girl holds out her magical staff, which resembles a crowbar, and sends an array of multicolored birds flying outward. The paintbrush girl draws something in the sky. Her Soul Gem began to glow, and a large stone arch appears. Her witch. Its crash shakes the scenery.

On another part of the battlefield, a puella consulti with a torch was dueling with one whose outfit bears a large pair of butterfly wings, and who wields a large pair of garden shears. The girl with the torch wears a black and red ensemble that resembled a nun's outfit. She charges towards the butterfly girl, hoping to burn her right on the rose that held her Soul Gem. The rose girl flicks her shears, summoning a storm of petals that lets her vanish from sight.

Then there was my senior, Mami. She was engaged in battle with a girl dressed like an idol. The idol consulti was a defensive fighter, summoning boxes out of thin air to block off Mami's gunshots. She spun around until the image of a carousel appeared around her head. She dashed toward Mami, hoping to ram into her like a top.

"I'm sorry, but I must prove that Miss Shizuki is guilty," says Mami, setting her teacup down on a railing. She holds her ribbon above her head and summons a very large musket, easily twice the size of her body. She presses down on the trigger, sending a bullet through the boxed daughter's defenses.

The girl with the torch bends down to her knees and starts to pray. "Should I lose on the battlefield today, grant me the strength," she says. The rose girl approaches her. At that moment, the torch girl stands up and holds her torch above her head, summoning a kneeling projection of a woman from the shadows. Her witch's tentacles extend out and grab the rose girl's Soul Gem, breaking it apart and transforming it into a Grief Seed.

The rose girl loses her outfit and catches her breath. "You call yourself clergy?" she asks.

"I was only doing what the Lord told me to," says the girl who had contracted the witch Elsa Maria.

At that moment, a girl dressed in a short skirt, holding a cutlass in one hand and a western sword in the other, approaches the battlefield. Musical runes flare up behind her, playing out her entrance on the winds.

* * *

><p>Back in the police station, Hitomi is taken away to the room where she will be questioned. "This isn't fair at all!" Hitomi shouts, "I want an alternative!"<p>

* * *

><p>Momozono and I are summoned to the police station. Hitomi is handcuffed. Up close, I recognize her as being the daughter of the Shizuki family, one of the more prominent families of Mitakihara. Momozono looks up at me with those innocent eyes.<p>

"Who are you?" she asks.

I tell her my name. "I'm Madoka Momozono," she replies, "The accused is my friend, and the victim is my homeroom teacher."

"So you saw what happened with this pervert?" I ask.

Hitomi, despite being restrained by the handcuffs, holds up her arms and lurches forward, jabbing me in the solar plexus. I feel a sudden loss of breath, while Momozono continues talking.

"I heard about it a little too late," Madoka says, "By the time I got there, someone had ripped open Ms. Saotome's clothes, and planted a kiss on her neck. Hitomi was there, with her lipstick."

"I forgot to put on my makeup this morning," says Hitomi, trying to escape the handcuffs. "It takes a lot of work to look this professional."

"You're a super pervert," I say.

"No, I just wanted to know about the puella consulti," says Hitomi, "My father's been trying to get me to become one, and I wanted to confirm with Ms. Saotome if it would affect my studies. Then this happened..."

* * *

><p>Our visiting hours were over. Madoka and I walked down the streets, approaching a construction site. Yellow tape had been put up, signifying that this was an entryway to the bar. The further out of the way the bar was, the better. If a person who wasn't a puella consulti wandered in, the legal troubles would be horrific.<p>

"So you're a member of the arts club?" I asked.

"Yes," says Madoka. "I want to work in fashion design, so I've been drawing some clothes for the school. Something in a gothic lolita style, perhaps. What do you do?"

"I haven't gotten a chance to do anything yet," I say, "This was my first day of school. I'd love to join the cooking club, though! Do they make pastries there?"

"They make all kinds of things," Madoka says. She looks down at our fingers. "It looks like we've been chosen."

I didn't even know we had been. Incubator is watching this city at all times, for the bar could be anywhere, but shouldn't he at least inform me before saddling me with a position in this trial? Madoka presents the ring on her left hand. I look down at my own hand. My name has been inscribed on a silver ring in those runes.

"I don't think Hitomi did anything, so I don't want to fight. Being a puella consulti is a dangerous job," says Madoka.

"Who do you think did?" I ask, wanting to get back to my school life.

Madoka glances into the bar. She sees runes shaped like musical notes flying about, and the sound of swords clanking is heard from within. I hold out my Soul Gem. A magical circle shoots out from behind the barricades, beckoning me to enter. I look towards Madoka and smile.

"You're going to fight?" Madoka asks.

"I'm a witness, it's my job," I say.

My Soul Gem covers my body in a magenta light, transforming me into a polka dotted outfit that looks like it came from a carnival. My sleeves are kind of floppy. I hold out my hand to summon my weapon. It turns out to be a giant ornate silver fork. I don't have time to question how that's going to help me, because the wind has already stopped blowing past my eyes. I'm in the bar now, and that blue haired girl is here, fighting with her twin swords.

The bar resembles the construction site I left, being set in a very large pit. Half of it resembles an outdoor concert, with stands set up that house nobody. The sky is pure white, and those who enter within a certain area find themselves turned into silhouettes. Ideas are vying for control here, and I'm stuck in the corner, being able to do nothing but watch.

"Your salvation isn't extending very far," says Sayaka, running her fingers down the blade of her sword.

"I'll repent, I'll repent!" says the puella consulti with your torch.

"I promise, it won't hurt at all," says Sayaka.

Sayaka taps the Soul Gem on her belt. A blue aura surrounds her, and takes the form of an armored mermaid with three metallic eyes. So she's the wielder of Octavia von Seckendorff. It's said that witches are a manifestation of one's inner desire, so her desire must have something to do with the ocean? I want to get closer, but the noise is too loud.

Sayaka and Octavia hold up their swords in perfect synchronization. She spun her blade in a perfect circle, creating a wooden wheel. The wheel bowled through the holder of Elsa Maria, knocking her backwards into part of the construction site before rolling up into the sky and vanishing. The torch girl's Soul Gem turns into a Grief Seed, and her costume vanishes.

Sayaka bends down and looks at her weapon. She examines the inside of it with her finger, and tosses it to the side, leaving it among the rubble at the twisted construction site. I'm hiding behind a giant cake, squeezing its red velvet sponginess between my fingers. Sayaka sees my hands and turns around to face me.

Frightened, I summon my own witch for protection. Her name is Charlotte. She's a cute little sprite with a black cloak like me and these adorable blue ey- wait! How am I supposed to fight with this? Even my inner desires make me look like an elementary schooler. Sayaka's probably going to make fun of me like everyone else.

"What is that? A fairy?" asks Sayaka.

"Sorry," I say, tears streaming down mine and Charlotte's eyes simultaneously.

At that moment, shots ring out from overhead. A flurry of bullets rains down. Sayaka and I run for cover beneath a giant slice of cake. I look up and see Mami. The very same Mami who showed up for my elementary school graduation. She's holding a musket and firing bullets towards us at a rate where they look like sparks.

"Mami?" I shout out.

"I guess the third years need to have their say too," says Sayaka.

"But I'm-" I barely get a word out as another bullet whizzes past my hair, creating an explosion that the both of us have to shield ourselves from. This cake will hardly provide the protection I need.

Charlotte vanishes back into my Soul Gem, and the two of us run for the exit of the bar. I transform out of my outfit, and land back near the construction site where Madoka is waiting for me. I stand up and catch my breath while she looks at me.

"You're trying to prove Hitomi's innocence yourself?" Madoka says. "That's a great plan."

"I don't think anything I did in there counts as a plan," I say.

* * *

><p>We return to the school, and classes proceed as normal. Lunchtime comes around, and Madoka and I are summoned to Ms. Saotome's office, which has been marked by the police in their hunt for evidence. That black haired lady with the creepy eyes is here. I look towards the door, trying to come up with an excuse to get out of here.<p>

"Hello, Momozono. Who are you?" she asked.

I present my student ID.

"I'm Nurse Nayuta. This is my first year at my school myself," she says, "It's terrible that someone would assault that poor woman, who's never had a boyfriend in her life. That mark on her neck, it's a witch's kiss, you know?"

"So you saw it?" I ask.

"I was getting a drink from the vending machines this morning," she says, pacing around the room, "I was doing a lot of paperwork last night, so I had to recharge with a bit of Morning Rescue. But from what I heard, Shizuki came in, and then Ms. Saotome was found collapsed on the floor with her shirt ripped open."

"Don't look at me," I say, turning away their glances, "I had to avert my eyes. I can't handle these sort of things."

"The first person to witness it was Sayaka Aono," says Nurse Nayuta.

"Sayaka...Aono?" I ask.

"She was my and Hitomi's best friend," Madoka answers, "She turned into a delinquent. Started dressing rough and stopped coming to school. She didn't even tell me she'd be back at school today."

"You should know that Miss Aono is currently taking place in the puella consulti trial too," says Nayuta.

"Sayaka's been contracted?" Madoka asks, genuinely surprised.

Nurse Nayuta presents her finger. She, too, has a Soul Gem. Since she knows Madoka's not going to be fighting, she glances at me. A portal to the bar opens up in the entrance to the hallway, and the two of us stand to face it.

There's a flash of light on my body as I transform into my outfit. She dons an outfit that looks like a blue and white frilly stage dress. Gears make up the cuff links on her gloves and boots, and her gear-shaped Soul Gem is situated on a band on her head. The two of us enter the bar, which now resembles someone's backyard. School uniforms are hanging everywhere. Does this school let you wash your uniforms here?

"I am the contractor of the strongest witch in history," says Nurse Nayuta.

"I'm...not that naive!" I say, "I'll show you what a first year student can-ah!"

By the time I have my fork out, Nayuta is sending gears towards me, slamming against my suit. One of them rips my cape. The silhouette of a clown appears before me, sparkling in purple. It bashes its head against mine, knocking me back onto my butt. My foot gets caught in my cape. I summon Charlotte to help me out. As she grabs onto my wrist and pulls me up, I find out that it's too late.

What looks like the lower torso of a schoolgirl on a pair of rollerskates starts swarming me. I don't know who contracted these half-sized schoolgirls, or why they're attacking me. Nayuta does nothing. She sits back and laughs at me.

"Why did I think an elementary schooler would be a challenge?" she says, holding her hand under her mouth.

"I heard that!" I say back.

* * *

><p>From one of the portals that lets one exit the bar, I can see what's going on with Madoka. Sayaka is her friend, after all, and she knows where she lives. It looks like she's decided to pay Sayaka a visit while I sit here and get pummeled to death by girls who have even less on top than I do!<p>

Sayaka agrees on letting Madoka into her apartment. It's become more run down since the last time Madoka was there. The corkboard is full of pictures of the three of them, going all the way back to elementary school. Newspaper and magazine articles detailing the puella consulti system are scattered about.

"Sayaka, is it worth it to go to all this for Kamijo? Hitomi's still your friend, I'm sure you can work something out. Come back to school. I know that you remember all the fun times we had together. The three of us were going to be placed in the same class this year," Madoka says, running her hand over the photographs. "What were you doing there?"

"I just wanted to see Ms. Saotome," Sayaka says.

"Even though she's not our homeroom teacher?" Madoka asks. Madoka holds up her Soul Gem to Sayaka. "If you want to talk through battle, then that's what we'll do."

Madoka and Sayaka walk outside their house, where another portal to the bar appears. Sayaka dons her knightlike outfit, while Madoka changes into a frilly pink dress that makes my ensemble look downright tomboyish. Madoka produces a bow with a rose on top from out of nowhere, and Sayaka draws her swords. The two of them enter the bar, and begin sparring.

Madoka tries to load her arrow, but Sayaka thrusts her sword across the bow, coming narrowly close to cutting apart Madoka's dress. Madoka's Soul Gem in this state resides below her neck. If it's hurt, she, too, will suffer some serious damage.

"You didn't have to frame Hitomi," Madoka insists.

"Madoka, why would I want to frame her?" Sayaka asks, "You're talking crazy. Why are you in this anyway? You're a lover, not a fighter."

"I want to do what's right," Madoka says.

At the moment, I'm dealing with the puella consulti who contracted the half-schoolgirls. Her outfit looks like the winter uniform of a school far, far away from here. Does she even have any creativity? I close my eyes and hold out my hands, giving her a strong blow to the stomach with my fork that sends her flying across the battlefield, going right through Madoka and Sayaka.

"I'm on a roll here, don't stop me!" I say.

The fork grows in size as I run further ahead, the three prongs extending outward. It starts to glow. I swing it like a baseball bat and destroy the girl who had contracted the witch Patricia, knocking another competitor out of the bar. The landscape around us changes once again to become a wonderland of sweets. Everything is pastel colored and the ground looks like icing. Charlotte pops out of my Soul Gem and high fives me, but I see that now is not the time for games.

"Aono, was it? I want to fight you, too. Now that I know how to work this thing," I say.

I get the feeling that Nurse Nayuta was leaning on a nearby fudgesicle at that moment, watching us with a bored look.

Sayaka turns around and bows her head. Madoka looks worried. She wants to stop us from fighting, but both of our determinations are far too great. Though my head was too blurry at the time, that was exactly what Judge Incubator wanted. The more we fought each other, the quicker the judgement would be brought.

Sayaka holds her blade above her head. The aura behind her warped into the form of Octavia. I stabbed my fork into the ground, and Charlotte floated over my shoulder. I must have looked totally uncool. Octavia sends her wheels spinning in my direction, knocking us back into what I think was supposed to be a parking garage, but now resembles a gingerbread house with gumdrop decorations. Gingerbread breaks easily, leaving me to run through the holes her wheels create before I get crushed by the falling sugary support above.

"Why did I have to end up with such a lame witch?" I say. I've been getting beat up all day, and having to wake up early to get to school did not help matters.

"I don't even know who you are," says Sayaka.

"I... don't either, but this is still our fight," I say. "Charlotte, get her!"

My Soul Gem starts glowing really brightly, making even the deeply saturated pinks in the frosting seem pale by comparison. Charlotte starts to transform into a black polka dotted worm like creature, with one red wing and one blue, and an ice cream cone on the end of her nose, and these big puffy yellow cheeks. She opens her mouth, revealing sharp teeth that let her charge across the scenery, eating through gingerbread and frosting, before chomping down on Octavia's tail.

Octavia retaliates by stabbing Charlotte on her midsection with her twin swords. Sayaka and I can feel some of the residual pain from our witches getting beaten up. She has more weapons than me, but mine is larger and hits harder. I send Sayaka to the ground. Charlotte snakes around me, her mouth open wide. Sayaka looks up in anguish, while Madoka watches us from the side.

"Sayaka, please, stop fighting," she says.

It is the nature of the puella consulti. The fight only stops when someone has won. Which means that everyone else must lose. No matter what.


	2. The cycle of law can be broken

I'm panting. Charlotte has an insatiable appetite. She's my inner desires, and with the two of us wrapped up in the heat of battle, we'll keep eating away at the world until the answer to this case surfaces. I let out a scream from the depths of my diaphragm and thrust my arm, the end of the sleeve flopping downward, out, but Madoka steps in front of us. Her bow is drawn, the rose on it in full bloom.

"I'll bring Sayaka to her senses," says Madoka, coldly determined, but with tears in her eyes.

"Momozono?" I ask. "I thought you didn't want to fight."

"I...I don't," Madoka insists, "but people have to fight. Or the emotions in them will be wasted. That's what Judge Incubator says when he implemented the system. Now..."

We hear a voice coming from behind a peppermint barricade. Nurse Nayuta is there, looking almost bored. She spins around her Soul Gem, summoning her witch. The witch is dressed in a blue frilly outfit, with a jester's hat and clown makeup, and a giant gear protruding from her butt. She hangs upside down, and starts laughing.

The witch barrels towards us, knocking the three of us out of the bar and out onto the construction site where Madoka and I first entered. All three of us lose our puella consulti outfits from the shock. Madoka and Sayaka seem more concerned with each other than with me, who, at the moment, is knocked out on the streets, stomach growling. The worst part is, there's no food nearby.

"For a nurse, she's sure not healing us," I say.

"Sayaka, I know that Hitomi confessed to Kamijo before you, but you don't need to declare her guilty," says Madoka.

"I'm not doing that, honestly," Sayaka says, starting to walk away.

"Then what are you a puella consulti for?" Madoka asks.

Sayaka grabs her arm. She's smiling, a devious smile, whispering to herself "It doesn't hurt at all." But it did hurt. She had suffered a blow stronger than either Madoka or myself. As she walked down the street, another portal to the bar appeared in the middle of the city, near the docks. This portal resembled a giant clock, with the runes such a deep gray that they may as well have been black.

The silhouette of a girl could be seen running through it, though the vision was hazy now. Sayaka smiled and transformed into her outfit for the third time that day. Unseen by none except for Judge Incubator, she leaped into a world of clockwork, a world of gears. The irregularity amongst puella consulti was within her sights.

* * *

><p>Madoka and I were eating lunch on the rooftop. Madoka's dad had packed her a lot of sweets, which I ate up as quickly as I could. With my energy returned, I stood against the fence on top of the ornate school and turned to my senior. There'd been a name thrown around in the past few hours that confused me.<p>

"Who's this Kamijo guy?" I ask.

"Sayaka and Hitomi were both in love with him, and it caused some problems last year. Kamijo was a violin prodigy. He could've had any girl in the school he wanted. Sayaka and Hitomi had a fight, and Sayaka became a delinquent."

"Even though you guys were friends?" I ask, sucking on a candy ball.

"I think we might be growing apart. That left Hitomi a window to confess, and she did. Sayaka can hold a grudge for a while, so as much as I hate to think so, Sayaka might really be the culprit this time," Madoka says.

"Doesn't that mean Hitomi's innocent?" I ask.

Madoka walks towards the back of the roof and slides her hand down the doorknob. She ushers for me to come. "Yes. We need to go get Hitomi from the police station."

"I'm not going back there again," I say, looking at the leftovers of Madoka's lunch. Her dad must be a really great cook.

"Come on!" Madoka shouts.

* * *

><p>Hitomi Shizuki was sitting in jail. The room was cold, and uncomfortable. Every passing minute felt like an eternity. Hitomi briefly recalled a dream Madoka had told her about this morning. A dream about running through another world, up the stairs, to a ruined city where someone else was fighting. Where a girl dressed in black urged Madoka not to make a contract. It was a vivid dream, more than any other.<p>

"Does this trial count as a contract? Is this something that shouldn't happen?" Hitomi thinks. She starts shaking the bars of her jail cell. "Get me out of here!" she shouts. The guard is at the other end of the hall. No one hears her voice. No one that isn't human. Before Hitomi knows it, she's swept away into a kaleidoscopic tunnel, floating at a strange angle, with nothing below her.

Beside her is a creature that looks like a rabbit or a cat, but not exactly like either, with red eyes that don't even blink. It looks up at Hitomi and starts speaking. The prismatic warp slows to a crawl, and Hitomi and the creature are hovering above the city at night. Down below, people go about their daily business, ignorant of the strange phenomena above.

"Who are you?" Hitomi asks.

"I am a messanger of magic. I wanted to let you know that with her magic unchecked, Madoka will become the greatest witch in history."

"Why are you telling me this?" says Hitomi.

"You found yourself wrapped up in our mission. The harvesting of human judgement for energy. It is only by chance that your friend happened to be the most powerful puella consulti," says the white animal.

"That can't be true," Hitomi says, "Madoka's not anything like that. She's going to get me out of here. That dream she had was only that. A dream."

"In this puella consulti battle, Madoka's true powers as a witch will awaken, and the Earth will be destroyed in ten days," says the red-eyed beast.

Hitomi blinked, and found herself back in her cell. What was that? The voice sounded familiar, as though she'd heard it somewhere during the trial, but it was impossible to place it now. One of the officers was already at her cell, sternly glaring at her.

"Miss Shizuki, you're needed once again."

* * *

><p>Hitomi, Madoka, Nurse Nayuta and myself are sitting in the cold room in the police office, the officers constantly watching us. Charlotte rests on my head, which is resting on the desk. I'm only half-awake for the whole thing. Getting dragged all the way back here did a number on me. It's livelier than the school, at least.<p>

"So you're saying that Sayaka Aono is the culprit," says Nurse Nayuta, "The evidence does point to her."

"Y-yes," Madoka says nervously, "I want to see about holding a new trial for Sayaka."

Hitomi stands up. "So I'm free?"

"Freedom," I murmur, "Yay, I'm a middle schooler now. Look out, world."

Madoka stops her own line of thought, however. "I want to see a new trial held, but I don't think I will. I've known Sayaka since we were young. She was always doing reckless things without telling us, but it was always for others. She still believes that heroes exist. Someone who thinks that wouldn't commit a crime. So I'll give her another chance."

"Madoka, what about me?" Hitomi asks.

Madoka leaves the station, and smiles before she goes. "Don't worry. I'm looking out for you too. The cycle of law is meant to benefit everyone."

* * *

><p>Sayaka is sparring against the girl she saw earlier. The bar has changed once again, becoming a blue and white dimension with lines that point infinitely towards the horizon. Strange circular objects are hovering about. It is there that Sayaka fights a girl with long black hair and a black and white uniform. She has a gun. Not a magical gun like Mami's, but a gun. Do they allow those in a court of law?<p>

Sayaka deflects her bullets with her sabers. She has to focus on using her left arm. Her right one is showing damage from the fight with Charlotte earlier.

"I've found you. Hand over that shield!" Sayaka screams.

The girl in black, called Homura on the video screens, says not a word. Sayaka charges toward her with her blade, but Homura steps out of the way. She moves from place to place in the blink of an eye, like she's teleporting. Sayaka clangs her sword against the circular shield on Homura's wrist, and their eyes meet. Homura lets out a small gasp.

Sayaka holds her sword over her head, and throws it down across Homura's hand. Her Soul Gem reverts to its egg form, and the shield drops to the ground. Sayaka picks it up, and tries to look for the girl called Homura. The place where she stood is empty, as if she had never been there. Sayaka leaves the bar with the shield in hand, and collapses onto the street, her outfit vanishing in a burst of blue light.

Madoka is running to the last place where she saw Sayaka, and finds her best friend, in pain, and clutching a weapon that she's never seen before. Madoka asks Sayaka if she's okay. Sayaka says she's fine. Madoka looks down at the shield.

"What is that?" Madoka asks.

"It's the shield of time," Sayaka says, "The judge said something about it being an irregularity. It lets you go back to the past."

"That's what you were fighting for?" Madoka asks.

"Yeah," says Sayaka, "Ms. Saotome called me in. She wanted to talk to me, but I was knocked over by this excited first year. By the time I got there, this whole mess started. If I go back in time, I can find out what she wanted to tell me."

"Magic is only allowed to be used inside the bar," Madoka says, "You'll be removed from the trial. Your Soul Gem will be corrupted too."

"That's a risk I had to take," Sayaka says, giving a thumbs up.

The wind blows past us. A moment of peace has been found on this day. It doesn't last for long, as a pale hand, dressed in dark blue with a gear around the wrist, reaches out and tries to grab Sayaka. That's my cue. I grab the hand as strongly as I can and pull it and myself back into the bar. Charlotte and I are ready for another fight.

Nurse Nayuta stands before me, looking surprised.

"Madoka was right," I say, "You're the one who did this. Why else would you be trying to stop Sayaka?"

Nurse Nayuta scoffs. "Why me? I was only trying to stop her from going back to do something even more dangerous. At least I haven't broken the rules."

"This is my first day as a student. I don't know much about you or Aono or anyone else at this place, but Madoka seems like a kind senior. I trust her. She's the kind of person you can trust," I say.

Nayuta adjusts her Soul Gem and summons a gear before us, ready to throw it at me. I hold out my fork, doing the same. "I was getting a drink then. Not to mention Ms. Saotome's room is pretty far from the nurse's office. There's no way I could've done it."

"Then we'll time slip and find out - ow!" Sayaka says. The pain in her arm is too much for her to carry the spoils of her victory. Madoka picks up the weapon in an effortless fashion, and looks into the portal.

"Sayaka, you're hurt. Please, stop," she says, "I'll do it."

"Madoka..." Sayaka whispers. The two exchange a glance that conveys more words than I can comprehend.

Madoka holds out her Soul Gem. The threads of light wrap around her body, transforming her into her puella consulti outfit. The black shield stands out against her dress. It looks like she knows how to use it. Madoka turns the shield upside down, letting a bit of sand pour between the two gems. The gears click, and the world begins to turn backwards.

That place Sayaka saw when she was fighting Homura surrounds us. I jump in with Madoka, walking through the glass dimension. The shield vibrates on Madoka's arm. In the world outside, we can see the clocks ticking backwards. My body is unsure of how to react. Madoka holds the shield outward once more. A clicking sound is heard. Time slows to a crawl, my body readjusts as we land outside the school, and look towards the hallway.

The bell hasn't rung yet. Ms. Saotome hasn't been assaulted yet. It's the first day of the new semester all over again.

* * *

><p>The magical portal deposits Madoka inside Ms. Saotome's room. As for me, it overshoots, and drops me out on the terrace. I see Nurse Nayuta there. She's doing as she said. She walks over to the vending machine, gets a drink, walks over to the open window looking into Ms. Saotome's office... and throws a leafy ball of something through the window. There's an evil aura coming from that thing.<p>

"What did you want to talk about, Shizuki?" Ms. Saotome asks.

"It's about the puella consulti," says Hitomi, "I..."

Madoka runs through the room and pushes Ms. Saotome out of the way. "Get down!" she screams. Ms. Saotome narrowly dodges the tiny ball of plant matter that comes sailing into the room. A mark resembling an eye with vines entwining out from it appears on the wall, leaving a crack where it impacted, before vanishing entirely, unable to find sustenance on human despair.

"So that's what it was," Madoka says.

Sayaka opens the door. She tosses aside the jacket she was wearing with her uniform and runs in. "Ms. Saotome? I thought I heard a noise..."

"Sayaka!" Madoka says, "Ms. Saotome had something to tell you, didn't she?"

"I don't remember telling you about that," Sayaka says, taking a seat on the only undamaged chair left in the room. She seems to be ignoring Hitomi's presence for now. Everyone in the room needs to catch their breath.

"Yes," says Ms. Saotome, "I think I've found the perfect club for you."

As soon as my body readjusts to its surroundings, I walk over to Nurse Nayuta. "You're not treating your students very well," I say.

"Out of my way, first year," says Nayuta, "How did you know I was going to do this?"

"Pretty hard to deny it now. That's not the kind of magic people have in this dimension. You're not from around here, are you?" I ask.

That's when I see Nurse Nayuta get absorbed by one of those plant balls, and sucked into the body of a second Nayuta behind me. The one who followed us through the time stream. Charlotte and I shoot back ideas for what to do in my head, but Nayuta seems all too eager to tell us her plan.

"I was gathering despair with my own methods," she says, "Ms. Saotome seems a little too keen to the way this world works. I had to teach her a lesson. Or I would've, if a little brat like you hadn't gotten in my way." She runs her finger around her Soul Gem, and transforms into that blue frilly outfit. She summons her witch, Walpurgisnacht.

It's just one battle after another, isn't it?

* * *

><p>Ms. Saotome and the three friends were gathered around her cramped, somewhat messy office desk. Hitomi was confused as to what was going on, but was pleased that Madoka and Sayaka were in the same room, together, once more. Ms. Saotome asked the girls to listen to what she had to say.<p>

"Sayaka, it was me who suggested you take a break from school, wasn't it?" she says.

"Yeah," Sayaka says, "After that confession, I wondered if there was anything else I could do. I tried a part time job, looked into transferring to another school, but in the end, I realized that even if I don't have Kamijo, he's still my childhood friend. I know you'll be able to make him happy, Hitomi."

"Thank you?" HitomI say, still confused.

"There's a new girl transferring into the second year. Sakura, I think her name is. She wants to start up a new club, and I was thinking this could be the chance for you to find someone you will love. Gender doesn't matter. She looks to be your type," says Ms. Saotome.

"A new club sounds awesome," Sayaka says, "and besides, Madoka, Hitomi, I would never want to abandon you guys. This is my home. My past here might not be pretty, but I can still create a new future."

Ms. Saotome closes the blinds and the window. She's trapped the plant thing underneath one of her ceramic mugs. "This is just between you and me, but I think there's something strange going on with Nurse Nayuta. She's not helpful or flirty, and none of the faculty can find anything on her past."

Hitomi looks around the edge of the door. "Excuse me," she says, "Where's that first year who was hanging outside the door?" she asks.

Madoka pushes herself out of her chair with great speed. Before the door closes behind her, she turns around and looks to the rest of her friends. "I've got one more thing I need to do. There's someone else out there who needs me," she says.

* * *

><p>Nayuta and I have taken our fight to the docks. I'm swatting at Walpurgisnacht with my fork, but the tongs keep getting stuck in her gears. Her power is completely overwhelming me. I don't know if I have enough magic left in my Soul Gem to summon Charlotte, much less my ouftit. I stab my fork into the ground and lean against it. Nayuta taunts me.<p>

"We're not in the bar, you know. If I kill you here, you're dead," she says, holding her hand to her mouth. "The judgement of absolute despair shall be passed."

Madoka comes running up, clearing through the battlefield with a series of elbow thrusts. She stands in front of me. The events of the trial have left her worn out. Her clothes and her face are scratched, but not a single drop of blood shows on her face. I look up to her, and she starts to speak.

"We're not going to despair," Madoka says.

"How naive. A puella consulti's life can only end in despair," says Nayuta.

"Our desires may be running wild within us, but it's those same desires that drive us," I say, standing up, "the desire to create a better world, to lend a hand to those in need... we may not know how, but it's a goal that we can achieve!"

"The cycle of the law can be broken!" Madoka shouts.

The two of us summon our Soul Gems in their egg form. We hold each other's hands, as twin ribbons of pink energy wind around us, forming our outfits. The *pop* of each piece of the suit coming into existence revitalizes me. A faint pink aura radiates out as the transformation completes.

I summon Charlotte in her sprite form. Her arms may be tiny, but she manages to hold off Walpurgisnacht's familiars with a powerful headbutt. Nayuta summons the true form of her witch, the jester spinning around on the gear. I'm scared for a moment or two, until I see my Soul Gem begin to glow. Madoka's is glowing as well. Now that I think about it, I've never seen her witch. My hands and hers link.

"Is this the power of hope?" I ask.

"It's something more. I'll become hope itself!" Madoka says.

Madoka's shadow comes alive and envelopes her, covering her in a ball of darkness. The darkness quickly fades, as a pair of translucent pink wings sprout from her back. Her outfit and her ribbons have become pure white, and her hair has grown longer. This must be the face of her inner desire. Or rather, a total lack of desire. She pulls out her bow, the rose on top of it already in full bloom.

Nayuta rushes over to me, attacking me with another barrage of gears. I swat them away with my fork. For once, I think I may have the upper hand. Being a short first year means that she can't land a hit on me. I knew I wasn't that naive.

Without saying a word, Madoka loads an arrow, the tip of which is shaped like her Soul Gem. She pulls back on the string, and shoots it right at Walpurgisnacht. The main body of the witch is instantly obliterated. A cross-shaped arrow of light shines forward, and dissolves the gear into nothingness. I dodge bits of shrapnel from the blast. Charlotte and I shield our heads to dodge the last bits of shrapnel.

All that remains is Nayuta. Madoka floats over to me. I feel the power of my desire coursing through my body. Charlotte twists herself into her second form. Madoka pats the polka-dotted ice cream shop mascot that is my witch on the head. Charlotte smiles, making her look downright tame. Madoka loads another arrow. I jump on top of Charlotte's head. Madoka loads another arrow.

The two of us let out a hotblooded scream. Charlotte and Madoka's arrow turn into a pink and black spiral that brushes past Nayuta, not turning her Soul Gem into a Grief Seed, but removing it, leaving only the gear-shaped setting in its place. Madoka drops to the ground, losing her goddess form. I drop my puella consulti outfit as well.

Nayuta is still standing. Her appearance has changed completely. Her skin is ghostly pale, her hair an unnatural light blue. Two tree branches that look like devil horns, each with a leaf at the end, curl around her head. Her previously apathetic smile has turned into a devious grin.

"My true identity is Northa, a top executive of Labyrinth," she sneers.

"Wait, what's Labyrinth?" I ask, "Shouldn't Judge Incuwhatsit have given you a background check?"

Judge Incubator appears before us. He looks like a small white animal with hoops around his ears. This was not what I was expecting. He curls himself around Northa's feet and speaks to his in a tone that shows he's completely unfazed by what has just been witnessed.

"It was an experiment to find an alternative means of gathering energy," said Judge Incubator.

"You're Incubator?" I ask, pointing my finger at him.

"Now you know why I keep these things a secret," said Kyubey, "not that it matters. If Madoka destroys this world, we have plenty of other worlds we can gather energy from. Farewell."

Judge Incubator and Northa vanish as quickly as they had appeared. I clasp my hand around Madoka's. Both of us are ready to head back to school. This has been the longest first day of a semester in my life.

* * *

><p>Lunch break has come once again. I join Madoka, Sayaka on the rooftop. Once I finish my piece of cheese, I turn to Madoka and Sayaka, who are talking with each other like old friends. Sayaka's cleaned herself up a bit too. She still looks like a wild girl, but one I want to become friends with.<p>

"Looks like you two are back together," I say.

"Always, no matter how long, we'll be friends," Madoka says.

There's a knocking at the door to the rooftop. A girl with long black hair walks in. She sits herself down between Madoka and Sayaka, blocking them from my sight. She turns around and gives me a glare with a killing intent.

"She's mine, first year," Homura whispers.

Please let my second day of school be peaceful!

* * *

><p>If the world changed overnight, it would be impossible to know. All we can do is make the best of the world we have before us. There are plenty more days in my school life ahead. I have met Madoka Kaname, and in that, I feel like the future has been changed. Magic that makes life better does exist, and I believe it exists within her.<p> 


End file.
